Photo by Mel Butler
Earlier this year, The Jesus and Mary Chain made a high impact return with Glasgow Eyes. Released in March via Fuzz Club, the album celebrates their enduring legacy, storming the UK Official Album Chart and landing at number seven—a height not seen since their iconic Darklands era in 1987.
Now, the Reid brothers are releasing a new song that was captured during those album sessions: Pop Seeds.
Named after a band name the Reids once shared in their early years, the buoyant Pop Seeds looks back with a sentimental smirk. It’s a throwback to the shared psychic space that ignited The Jesus and Mary Chain, a story told in their memoir Never Understood.
Straying from the darker, electronica-laced tones permeating the rest of Glasgow Eyes, Pop Seeds radiates the bright, buoyant spirit of two young men eyeing an open future. Jangly guitars and nostalgic lyrics blend with cheerful, bloopy synths, echoing the vibes laid of by acts such as Wilco, Beck, Belle and Sebastian, and even the trippy vibes of The Flaming Lips. This delightful little number is a blast of youthful exuberance wrapped in a retrospective reverie. Pop Seeds blends classic alternative rock with Americana influences and wistful, poetic lyrics, wrapped up in a intricate arrangement.
Listen to Pop Seeds below:
Pop Seeds adds to the anticipation for the long-awaited autobiography Never Understood, which sees William and Jim Reid tell the full story of one of Britain’s greatest guitar bands for the very first time – a wildly funny and improbably moving chronicle of brotherly strife, feedback, riots, drug and alcohol addiction, eternal outsiders and extreme shyness, that also somehow manages to be a love letter to the Scottish working-class family.
Never Understood will also be released in two limited edition formats. The Record Store Edition, out 3 October, will feature alternate artwork and will be housed in a bespoke slipcase packaged, all designed by William Reid. It will be limited to 1500 copies. The White Rabbit Edition follows on November 21st, which adds a 12” vinyl featuring audiobook extracts and four exclusive postcards. Each copy of the 500-run pressing will be signed by both William and Jim Reid.
You can purchase it here.
You can also listen to the song below and order it here.
The Jesus and Mary Chain have spent much of 2024 touring extensivel. Next up is a 27-date North American co-headline tour with The Psychedelic Furs before they return to the UK for the following headline shows.
Please click here for ticket information.
September (with The Psychedelic Furs)
October (with The Psychedelic Furs)
November (with The Psychedelic Furs)
December
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